- Forte Oil Plc Raises N9bn 5-year Fixed Rate Bond
Forte Oil Plc, an integrated energy service provider, has successfully raised N9billion bond under its N50billion bond issuance programme.
The funds raised will be used to refinance existing short term commercial bank loan obligations and to finance the retail outlet expansion of the company. The company has an Issuer rating of A- long term and A1- short term rating by the Global Credit Rating Company (GCR).
Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Forte Oil, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa said: “With the raising of this initial capital which has been fully underwritten shows the confidence the investing public has in Forte Oil Plc as an investment of choice. This bond programme being the first in the downstream sector, is testament to Forte’s position within the downstream sector and allows the company to actualise the vision of the Board to continue to provide value to its shareholders regardless of the economic climate.”
In his comments, the Group Executive Director, Finance and Risk, Forte Oil said: “This series provides us with the necessary liquidity to actualize our growth strategies and positions the company for the years ahead. The pricing of this debt instrument demonstrates the markets’ belief in us and the pricing would help reduce our borrowing cost and increase profitability in the short and long term.”
According to them the bonds will be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange until maturity date in 2021. United Capital Plc served as the lead financial advisor/issuing house to this transaction while Boston Advisory Limited, FBN Capital Limited, Planet Capital Limited and Vetiva Capital Management Limited served as joint financial advisors/issuing.
Meanwhile, the equities market maintained its losing streak for the fourth consecutive yesterday as the NSE All-Share Index fell by 0.21 per cent to close at 25,599.79. Similarly, market capitalisation shed N18.4 billion to close at N8.7 trillion. Year-to-date decline of the NSE stood at 10.61 per cent. At the close of trading 25 stocks depreciated in value, while 14 stocks appreciated.
Sell pressure on Nigerian Breweries Plc(-0.6 per cent), Forte Oil(-5.0 per cent), Total Nigeria (-4.8 per cent) and GTBank(-0.7 per cent) were responsible for the negative performance.
Activity was mixed as volume traded rose 10.9 per cent to 161.6 million shares while value traded declined 12.2 per cent to N1.2 billion.